In today's “digital age,” more and more processes are becoming digital or automated. This is especially true in the financial industry. Over the years, primary methods for payment have evolved from cash to checks to credit and debit cards. More recently, technology has become available that permits for “contactless” transactions. For instance, a contactless payment is a payment where a customer pays a purchase amount without handing a payment card or a payment device to a cashier at the point-of-sale (POS) and without swiping the magnetic stripe of a payment card through a payment terminal (also sometimes referred to as a POS terminal). In other words, a contactless payment is one made using a payment device that may wirelessly transmit payment information to the payment terminal. Although physical contact between the payment device and the payment terminal may still occur in a contactless payment environment, physical contact between the payment device and the payment terminal is not necessary for transmission of the payment information from the payment device to the payment terminal.
Many payment terminals have the ability to read and process electronic payment information such as credit card or debit card information received wirelessly from a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone or other handheld computer) that is brought close to the payment terminal. Mobile devices configured with contactless transaction technology are often referred to as “mobile wallets” or “electronic wallets.”
A mobile device having mobile wallet capabilities may allow a user to use the mobile device's interface to interact with a contactless apparatus such as selecting a payment vehicle that the user wishes to use for paying a purchase amount. In such a contactless payment, the mobile device may transmit payment information associated with the selected payment vehicle when the mobile device is brought close to the payment terminal. A payment vehicle may be any payment instrument such as a credit account, debit account, bank card, or other instrument that can be used by one entity to pay another entity.
However, to date, numerous areas in business have not transitioned to the “digital age.” For instance, coupons for POS transactions must still be manually collected, printed, received in the mail, etc., by the user and presented in “hard copy” format to a retailer. Businesses spend millions of dollars mailing customers or potential customers hard copy ads or offers. Customers receive paper receipts and other account-related documents for their financial transactions at automated teller machines (ATM), retailers, etc.
A need presently exists for a product that permits a user to receive content such as coupons, ads, offers, images, financial receipts, account-related documents, reissued financial cards, new financial cards, prepaid cards, etc., in a more efficient and effective way in the digital age.